"Aguanilé" (Watered Down) is a song composed by American-Puerto Rican trombonist
Willie Colón and Puerto Rican singer
Héctor Lavoe and being recorded by themselves as the first
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
from their seventh
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''
El Juicio
''El Juicio (The Judgment)'' is an album by Willie Colón & Héctor Lavoe issued in 1972 by Fania Records. It was the third of Colón and Lavoe's records to go gold, after Cosa Nuestra (1970), La Gran Fuga (1971), and before Lo Mato (1973).The Boo ...
'' released in 1972. Its origin comes from the
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
culture in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and means "spiritual cleansing for your house" perhaps referring to Lavoe's drug problems.
The song has a small verse that is interpreted by Lavoe in
Greek: "
Kyrie eleison", which means: "Lord have mercy", belonging to the ordinary of the mass. The song was produced by Colón himself along with
Fania Records co-founder
Jerry Masucci.
Background
In 1970, the album ''Asalto Navideño'' was released, where Colón and Lavoe demonstrated that they could win over the Latino public and the local public in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. With hits like "La Murga", "Esta Navidad", "Aires de Navidad" which finished consecrating the musical career of both artists. Lavoe's drug problems began to worsen and this behavior began to alienate his partner Colón little by little, so to compensate for his problems they convinced the trombonist to compose a song that had more sentimental meaning and more instrumentalism where
Milton Cardona stands out on the
conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...
s.
Music and lyrics
"Aguanilé" was written and produced by Colón and Lavoe. The song is about a man who longs for a Latin public attention and wants to know how she feels about him. The song opens with a trombone and piano riff, which is immediately followed congas and timbales followed by the voice of Lavoe. It fuses the sound of contemporary Boogaloo and incorporates Latin percussion instruments the timbales, congas, maracas, trombones and the trumpet.
Marc Anthony version
Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
Marc Anthony
Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin Gra ...
recorded a cover version of the song for his soundtrack album ''
El Cantante
''El Cantante'' is a 2006 biographical film which stars singers Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. The film is based on the life of the late salsa music, salsa singer Héctor Lavoe, who is portrayed by Anthony. The film is told from the viewpoint o ...
'' in 2007. Anthony bought six hundred records to listen and select the songs that would be included on the album, the first of other cover albums that he will be releasing under this concept. Anthony recorded "
Mi Gente", "El Día de Mi Suerte" and "Qué Lío", written by Colón, Lavoe and
Joe Cuba
Joe Cuba (April 22, 1931 – February 15, 2009), was an American conga drummer of Puerto Rican descent widely regarded as the "Father of Latin Boogaloo".
Early years
Joe Cuba (birth name: Gilberto Miguel Calderón) was born in Harlem, New York ...
, since the songs were "related to his taste in music and who he was".
Charts
See also
*
2007 in Latin music
This is a list of notable events in Latin music (genre), Latin music (i.e. Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking music from Latin America, Latin Europe, and the United States) that took place in 2007.
Events
*November 8 The 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awa ...
References
{{Authority control
1972 singles
2007 singles
2013 songs
Willie Colón songs
Héctor Lavoe songs
Marc Anthony songs
Sony Music Latin singles
Spanish-language songs
Salsa songs
Song recordings produced by Sergio George